South Florida Fuel Prices Tick Upward

South Florida pump prices barely changed last week, but crude oil prices continued to tick upward.

Crude prices were able to sustain their upward momentum last week as talks of a plan to resolve Europe's debt crisis continue, AAA South's Fuel Gauge Report said. The plan involves more than $1 trillion to bail out Greece and provides banks with much needed funds.

U.S. inventories of crude oil fell by 4.7 million barrels to 333 million â¿¿ the lowest level since February 2010. The positive news gave crude oil a slight boost in price, settling Friday at $87.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange â¿¿ 60 cents higher than the week prior.

"Until a final plan is reached by European leaders, it looks as if the market will continue to use 'talks' of a plan to hold onto any optimism that Europe's debt issues are nearing an end," AAA South spokeswoman Jessica Brady said. "Retail gas prices continue to inch up as well although it looks like the rate of increase has started to slow. Prices are likely to continue their upward trend through the remainder of October until news is released on whether or not agreements were made and a final plan presented for Europe's bailout."

South Florida fuel average details:

Miami: A gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $3.52 a gallon, down a fraction of a cent from $3.53 a week ago and up from $2.87 a year ago.

Fort Lauderdale: Regular unleaded was up a fraction of a cent to remain at $3.51 a gallon, compared with $2.85 a year ago.

West Palm Beach/Boca Raton: Regular unleaded averaged $3.55 a gallon, up a fraction of a cent from $3.54 the previous week and $2.90 a year ago.

The national average price of unleaded regular gasoline is $3.45 a gallon, the same as last week. Floridaâ¿¿s average price of $3.46 is 4 cents more than last week.